Tennis Royale
by NE1410IS
Summary: 45 teenagers are chosen to compete in a deadly tournament where only one player can be left standing. With bonds as tight as the ones forged between members of a tennis team, though, there's no way anyone will kill their friends... right? [Updates: Saturdays!]
1. Chapter 1 - Introduction

**[A pro tennis fan's rant in an alternate world] **

What? Battle Royale? "What's Battle Royale?" Come on, don't tell me you don't know that!? Why bother coming to a pro tennis match, huh? The name of a move? The name of a tournament? No, Battle Royale's a pro tennis match. What? "Today?" Today, here, you mean? No, it's not today's program. It's only held in large arenas for big events. Look, there's Nanjiroh Echizen. O-oh, sorry. That's right, a Battle Royale. It's still held in the All Japan Pro Tennis League. In a nutshell, let's see Battle Royale is—you know how your usual pro tennis match is one on one or between paired up partners, well with Battle Royale, ten or twenty tennis players all jump onto the court. And then you're free to attack anyone, one on one, or ten against one, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many tennis players pin someone down—what, you don't even know what a pin is? Once your back's on the mat, the count goes, one, two, three, you lose. It's no different from a normal match. Players can also forfeit, and occasionally someone'll get knocked out. Oh yeah, and there's the count out. You can also be disqualified by breaking the rules. Most tennis players lose by falls in Battle Royale. Hey, go Nanjiroh, go! Go, go! O-oh, sorry sorry. In any case, the ones who fall lose, they have to leave the court. Fewer and fewer players remain in the game. There're only two left in the end. One on one, a very serious match. One out of those two will eventually take a fall. Then there's only one player left on the court, and he's the winner. He wins. He's given a huge trophy and prize money. Get it? Huh? What about players who've been friends? Well, at first, of course they help each other out. But in the end they have to fight each other. You have to follow the rules. Which also means you get to watch some rare matches. Like way back when the doubles partners of Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith were the remaining players. Same thing happened with doubles partners Animal Warrior and Hawk Warrior. In that match though I don't remember which one, but the guy intentionally went for a count out letting his partner win, a display of camaraderie which was kind of a letdown. Oh, you can also team up with players who used to be your enemies. But the moment you think you're teaming up to get rid of someone else, this sneaky friend can suddenly betray and beat you. Let's see, a Battle Royale I'd like to see now? Well given how many federations there are, I'd like to see a Battle Royale between the leaders of each federation. Nanjiroh Echizen, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Nikolay Davydenko, Juan Martín del Potro, Pete Sampras, Marcel Granollers, Marc Lopez, also Andy Murray, Tomáš Berdych, Fabio Fognini, and Fernando Gonzales could still be in the running. It'd be fun to add Yoji Anjoh and Super Delfin. They might actually end up being the last two remaining players. For women's first of all, Venus, then Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova, Samantha Stosur, Vera Zvonareva, Nathalie Tauziat, Katarina Srebotnik, of course Monica Selesi, and Mary Pierce and Martina Navratilova, Anastasia Myskina, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Tracy Austin and...what? How could you not know any of them? Did you really come here to watch tennis? Oh, no no no no no, Nanjiroh, fight back ! Nanjiroh! All—right.


	2. Chapter 2 - Prologue

Arai woke up to a classroom he didn't recognise. He felt disorientated, and his head ached, and there was a weird heaviness around his neck and shoulders. The last he could remember, they'd been on a bus- yeah, that was right, headed to the Japanese High School Representatives Selection Camp. He hadn't understood why he had been selected to go, but hey, he hadn't complained – after all, he worked just as hard as any of the regulars, right?

But nothing about this seemed right. Everyone around him was dazed and confused, seemingly waking up just as he had. He stretched his memory back as far as he could go, back to being on the bus, and suddenly feeling drowsy. After that, he couldn't remember a thing. So how had he come to be in this classroom?

Even more mysterious was the fact that it seemed that the other players had shown up with them. Representatives from Hyoutei, Yamabuki, Rikkai, Higa, Rokkaku… the type of people you'd expect to be training at a prestigious training camp.

His hand moved up to touch at his neck. Just like what he'd seen on the others, there was a metal ring around it. It was cool to the touch and completely smooth - no seams, rivets, or screws. He wondered how that had happened, as well. How long had he been out?

To his left and to his right were Katsuo and Kachiro, the two first years who weren't Horio or Ryouma. Their presence there was also confusing. They were barely on the team. Why would they be here, at this supposed tennis camp? And what's more, there was Ryuuzaki's granddaughter, and that annoying girl who came along to cheer for Ryoma, and another girl he didn't recognise who looked sporty but nowhere near the level required to attend the U-17 camp - why them?

All his answers stood at the front of the classroom. A man had been standing there for probably a long time, watching the tennis players (plus a few non tennis players) wake from their slumber. He had long, luscious brown hair and a cocky expression. There was a blackboard behind where he stood at his little podium, and on it was written 'welcome' in large letters.

Arai tried to speak, but found his throat dry and the metal collar around his throat constricting. Kachiro was finally waking beside him, and his eyes went wide when he fully came to. Arai protectively wrapped his arms around his little freshmen- he was cruel on the courts, but gentle in the classroom.

"Good morning, students," the man with the luscious brown hair said, smiling widely. "How nice of you all to finally wake up."

Someone on the opposite side of the classroom spoke up. Arai recognized the voice, which belonged to Yamabuki's annoying resident luckster, or whatever, Sengoku. The redhead was situated amongst the other five Yamabuki members that had been invited to the camp. "What's going on?" he asked, his voice sounding as worn out as Arai's felt.

"Who are you?" Another boy spoke up. It was Fudomine's captain, Tachibana, this time. "Where are we?"

"So many questions," the brown haired man said, leaning on his podium.

A tense silence fell over the tennis players as they looked at the man. Normally, they would all be fired up and not taking this strangers nonsense, but this all felt very dangerous, and even the most outspoken members of their group seemed strangely quiet.

"Now, so I don't miss my afternoon tea, I'll make this quick," he said. He picked up a piece of chalk and wrote his name on the blackboard. "My name is Yukio Kurobe. I'll be your coach for this week."

He placed the chalk down, and dusted his hands off.

"You've all been selected to take part in an exciting new project. It's called the programme." He was quiet. Arai wondered if he was trying to build up some kind of suspense, or if he was just not very good at public speaking - either way, he wished he'd get on with it. "I'm afraid you've been lied to. You see, this is not a training camp. This week, you will have to kill each other."

The reaction in the room was mixed. Some people were quiet. Others laughed, apparently thinking it was some sort of joke. Conversation broke out amongst others. Arai was in the first group of people - he couldn't react any other way, because this felt so surreal, he wasn't sure how to process it.

"Well, you're all very quiet. Good. That makes this easier," Kurobe said. "First of all, I should say that for your own safety, you shouldn't try to leave your seats during this introduction. And you especially shouldn't try to leave this room - there are armed guards stationed outside in case anyone tries to cause any kind of trouble."

"Excuse me."

The voice came from the front row. Arai saw Rikkai's captain lift his hand, his jersey almost slipping from his shoulders as he did so.

"But what if I don't believe you?"

"Well, you're welcome to try leaving, if you don't," Kurobe said. He seemed disgruntled. Arai wondered if Yukimura was smiling at him.

"I see," Yukimura said, "And I assume these collars have something to do with all this?"

As if suddenly reminded of them, everyone began to fumble with their collars.

"Oh, yes," Kurobe said. "Simply put, these collars are our way of ensuring you play the game properly. You see, any rule breaking or attempts to escape the game will result in them being detonated. They actually contain state-of-the-art, remote controlled, bombs."

Everyones hands fell away from their necks at once.

"Do you want proof for that, too?"

"No," Yukimura replied. "I think I'm fine."

"Excuse me." Arai twisted in his seat to see who was speaking now. Atobe Keigo. "But I'm afraid some of us are far too rich and important to play your little game."

"Let's make one thing clear: you were chosen through a lottery," Kurobe began to pace in front of the blackboard. He seemed to be getting bored, like they weren't absorbing all his information fast enough. "It doesn't matter what your background is like. It didn't effect you entering the programme, and it won't affect your chances during it. We've done our best to be as fair as possible. After all, it's obvious that some of you are... less likely to survive than others. Weapons will be assigned to you randomly, to avoid anyone being issued something that will dramatically increase their chances."

"What about working together?"

Well, the person who had asked that had been a surprise. Akutsu Jin had been his silent, brooding, scary self up until then. Arai was surprised that he had been the one to ask this question.

"You're welcome to team up with whoever you like," Kurobe answered. "But I have to stress that, at the end of the game, there can only be one winner. If more than one person is alive by the time the time limit is up, your collars will detonate and no one will survive."

A few seats to the right of Arai, Oishi said, "What is the time limit?"

"One week." Kurobe smiled. "Roughly put, that means about six of you have to die per day to make it. But I wonder which six of you will go first?"

* * *

Soon after, they had been called up one by one and each handed identical, nondescript duffel bags. Kurobe had explained that each bag contained supplies, including a map of the island and several rations of food and water (so use them sparingly!) and a random weapon. The weapon they would have to use to murder their teammates. _Monster_, Arai thought furiously.

Arai couldn't believe this was happening. His blood had boiled as he watched the others leave, one by one. His grip around Kachiro and Katsuo had tightened as he watched freakin' _Sakuno _walk up, trembling in fright. _This isn't the place for a girl like her, _he thought angrily.

Now he was standing outside after getting his own bag. He was shocked - he stood at the top of a hill, just inside of a tall fence and just in front of the gate leading out of the compound. Just outside of the gate, a dirt path disappeared into a wide expanse of forest. Twenty-three players of this "game" had left before him, presumably down in the forest below.

Were they waiting to kill him? Arai sure hoped not. Either way, he couldn't hang around the building they'd been released from forever - Kurobe had mentioned that the "school" would become a forbidden zone ten minutes after the last player had been released, and that entering that section of the island would result in their collar being detonated. He soon got good enough foresight to get out of the doorway to the building behind him and trotted outside the fence. He crouched in the bushes further down the road, so he could just barely see the building, and dropped his bag to the ground and began to dig through it to find his randomly chosen weapon. Though he wasn't planning on killing anyone, he had to think ahead - he might have to fight back in defense, even though he highly doubted anyone would actually try murdering another person...

His hands hit a small box at the bottom of his bag. He pulled it out, and was confused to find that it was simply a small object with a screen on the front and a retractable antenna at the top. _Is this a joke? _he wondered as he went back into his bag. _This must be part of the supplies._

But it wasn't. He looked back at his..."weapon" with a sense of dread deep in his stomach. Was this little box really his weapon?

Arai picked it up again and turned it about in his hands. There was a button on the top, next to the antenna. He pressed it, unsure as to what the little contraption would do. He jumped, dropping it when it let out a loud beep and the antenna sprang upwards. He was hesitant to pick it back up, but when he did so he found that the screen on the front began to show some signs of life. On the screen was, what Arai thought to be, a representation of the map of the island. There were several large dots on the map, all near the section where the main building and Arai were sitting. Every few seconds, the image would refresh and the dots would have moved. Except for...his?

It hit Arai like a ton of bricks. This was a _tracking device. _It wasn't a weapon, but it was pretty useful. He could use it to meet up with others, and think of a plan to get off the island without having to kill...

"A-Arai-senpai?"

Arai looked up, startled, but he let his guard back down when he saw the faces of his three kouhai, Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro, looking frightenedly at him. Kachiro had tears dripping from his eyes and, though he was trying to hide it, Katsuo nearly did too. Horio was pale as a sheet and unnaturally quiet.

"Come here, sit with me for a second," Arai said. They sat down next to him, sniffling and thanking him politely. Arai rubbed at his head for a second. At least he had his familiar freshmen with him. He'd definitely make sure that _they _were at least okay - they probably weren't even supposed to be here, anyway. "Hey, what'd you get in your bags?" He asked.

Kachiro looked embarrassed. "Camouflage clothes," he said. Horio pulled out a pair of binoculars meekly. Arai felt a little anxious - had none of them gotten anything _good_? Not that they needed it if they were careful...but...

Katsuo shrugged, pushing his bag in front of himself. "I'm not sure, I haven't looked yet." He unzipped the top and put his hand in. Unlike when Arai had to fish around for his weapon, Katsuo found his easily. Probably because the weapon was so BIG.

"Whoa," Arai said, genuinely surprised as Katsuo pulled out a freakin' FLAMETHROWER. It was nearly as big as he was, poor kid. How he had been carrying that on his back was anyone's guess.

"Wow!" Kachiro gasped, leaning over and grazing it with his fingers. "Is it real?"

"Of course it's real," Arai snapped, rolling his eyes. "Why would they give you a fake flamethrower?"

Before either of his kouhais could say anything, a rustling in the trees nearby shut them up. Arai tugged them close as they sat, listening intently. In the clearing in front of them, a Rokkaku member that Arai barely knew - what was his name, Itsumi? whoever he was, his nose sure was big - burst from the trees. "Why?" he muttered to himself. He must not have noticed Arai, Katsuo and Kachiro, because he was looking around nervously and was very obviously talking to himself. "Why, why, why, why-"

Arai watched in horror as a gunshot came from some direction he couldn't quite place and passed through the Rokkaku members neck, stopping his "whys" instantly and replacing them with quiet gurgles. He fell over to his knees, a shaky hand rising to the spurting blood coming from his throat where the bullet had pierced him. At that moment, Itsuki's head swung towards them, and he gave them a look as if to ask 'why am I bleeding?'. Arai instinctively pulled away from the scene, covering his kouhai's faces with his hands. Up the road, closer to the school, Arai could hear someone approaching and whimpering in fright, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out who it was or to see if Itsuki was okay. What if the person coming thought HE killed Itsuki? That would probably be bad. Even worse would be if the person who had shot Itsuki would shoot HIM too. He quickly shoved Katsuo's flamethrower back into his bag and stood, pulling Horio, Katsuo and Kachiro with him. Together, they escaped deeper into the forest. Arai looked down at his tracking device, and was relieved to find that there were no dots in the direction that he was running in. He set his jaw as the four of them headed forwards into the unknown, hostile island.

They came to a stop when they found another path. Down it, there appeared to be a small village. It appeared on Arai's tracking device as a small house picture. There didn't appear to be any dots on the map, so Arai set on going into the village - at least there they could hide until everyone decided to be civil.

Kachiro was trembling pretty badly in Arai's grasp. Arai couldn't blame him. Itsuki just got killed in front of them, after all. _Six a day to win..._ he thought mindlessly, before shaking the thought away. He looked down at Katsuo, who appeared to be doing a little better than Kachiro was. Maybe he had some confidence from the freakin' flamethrower in his bag.

The village looked like it could have been lived in at one point. It made Arai uneasy to know that there might have been people living there, living normal lives - well, as normal lives as they could have without tennis - and now there were 45 - 44 now - kids being forced to kill each other to survive. He found most of the houses locked up, and Arai didn't want to risk breaking a window - not yet. It'd be too noisy, anyway.

He looked down at his tracker again. He tensed when he saw that a black dot was nearing the village. Maybe it was the person who killed Itsuki coming to kill them, or the person who had witnessed the killing out for revenge, or just someone completely random. Regardless of who it could have been, Arai instantly pulled the first years close to himself, and pressed up against a wall where the person approaching could not see them.

It was Kabaji, the large tennis player from Hyoutei. He didn't appear to be armed, and didn't even have a duffel bag on him. It made Arai wonder if he had left it somewhere to appear friendly. Arai was willing to hedge his bets - after all, Katsuo had a flamethrower on hand in case they needed it. Arai threw his tracking device back into his bag, just in case the other boy saw it as some kind of threat.

Arai stepped out, catching Kabaji's attention. The taller boy nodded at him in greeting and Arai cautiously approached him. "Hey," he said. He had never really interacted much with Hyoutei's team, but from what he heard of them from the regulars, they weren't really THAT bad - just a little hard to talk to at first. "Where's your bag?"

"Left it at a tree up there," Kabaji said. His sentences were short but clearly spoken. He didn't sound suspicious in the least. Maybe he really wanted to be friendly. That was totally a-okay with Arai. He had no reason to not put his trust in this guy. .

"That's good," Arai sighed in relief, putting a hand to his chest. "I'm just here with three freshmen from my school. T-they're the only people I've seen so far, apart from you," he lied. He would definitely never tell anyone that they had seen Itsuki die. "I'm glad you're peaceful. My weapon is this collar tracker, and it's not like I can even use it to defend myself. I think we should try to find others-"

Kabaji landed a sick punch to Arai's nose, sending him reeling backwards. Blood dripped from his nostrils, and through the buzzing of pain that came from the impact, he could hear the freshmen yelling his name.

Arai was pretty skilled in fights, but not skilled enough to take on this massive powerhouse from a powerful school like Hyoutei, known for it's strict training regimen. Arai was also pretty quick on his feet, so he was able to go over and grab Kachiro and Katsuo and take off, leaving their bags behind, hoping to find an unlocked house to hide in where Kabaji couldn't find him until it was safe enough to go out again.

_I forgot that he could do that! _Arai thought frantically. He had completely overlooked the fact that Kabaji could just take him down like that. He had been too obsessed over Kabaji's lack of weapon to see the bigger picture.

His made sure that Horio, Katsuo and Kachirou didn't fall behind as he sprinted. He would protect those kids from Kabaji no matter what - plus, this running was good exercise for them. When Kabaji was no longer in eyesight behind them, Arai immediately took to trying to pry open doors. Katsuo and Kachiro lent a hand too, jimmying locks and pushing up against stuck doors. Kabaji still hadn't caught up when Kachiro let out a gleeful "it's open!" and Arai was thankful.

The trio shuffled into the small house and collapsed onto the floor just beyond the doorway. Arai lifted his hand to his nose and wiped at the blood that had streaked across his face. A quiet fell over the trio as they caught their breath.

The silence wasn't calming though. The air around them was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Something wasn't sitting well with Arai - they had gotten away too easily, almost. Maybe Kabaji hadn't been serious about killing Arai or the freshmen, but he definitely couldn't have let them get away that easily, could he have?

He fumbled with his pack, taking out the collar tracker. He quickly located the cluster of four dots that represented them, and not far off he could see another, single dot that appeared to be Kabaji. He was walking away, towards the path that led back into the forest - Arai felt that that should have been a cause for celebration, but it didn't feel right.

That's when he heard the faint ticking. He immediately stood up despite Kachiro's protests, trying to filter out the sound of his frantic heartbeat so he could hear that noise. He paced around the room, listening carefully, when he hit it. His foot caught on a floorboard that was out of place and pulled up slightly from the rest. With an awful feeling, he bent down slowly and moved aside the board.

Underneath the floorboards were at least ten small devices, each with their own tiny red blinking light and small countdown screen.

They were _bombs_. Arai's frenzied nerves melted away and were replaced with a cold realization that they were too late to get out of the house again. The red light on the bombs stopped blinking.

Arai rushed over to the freshmen and grabbed them to shield them from the blast in his last act of protection.

* * *

Kabaji hiked back through the forest, three duffel bags thrown over his shoulder. Next to his own duffel bag stood Atobe, looking at his fingernails.

"Did it work?" Atobe asked, casting a look at Kabaji as the other boy set the duffel bags down.

"Usu," Kabaji said, as collected as always.

Atobe smirked. "Of _course _it worked. Ore-sama's plans always work, ne, Kabaji?"

"Usu."

**40 students remaining.**


	3. Chapter 3 - Prologue

Oishi could barely believe what he'd just saw. Itsuki Marehiko, from Rokkaku, had been killed. How could someone in their group do something like that?  
His mouth was dry. He wanted to run, but he couldn't move, and in a moment he was glad he'd stayed where he was. A tall figure emerged from the trees, and Oishi squinted. It was getting dark now, so it was hard to see, but the silhouette was unmistakable.

Akutsu Jin bent down next to the corpse. He pushed Itsuki's body aside, and picked up the bag that lay under it. He slung it over his shoulder, straightened up, and walked away - fortunately, in the opposite direction once more.

If Oishi had been asked who he thought would participate in this game, he would have said "no one, of course!". But that wasn't exactly true. There were people amongst their group who were more... predisposed to violence. Akutsu Jin, for example. Or the members from Higa who were with them, Chinen Hiroshi and Kite Eishirou.

Surely, though, nobody amongst Seigaku would do something like that - no, he was sure that if they all met up, they'd be able to do something. Maybe even come up with a plan to get off this island without anyone else getting hurt...!

He pulled out his map and studied it, and tried to think of where he should go. There was a village labeled on the map, but it was on the opposite side of the island. Not that it was very big, but it would take a few hours to hike to it - and that was assuming he didn't get lost. Oishi put his map to the side and looked in his pack. In his haste to get away from the school (he had been one of the last few people to leave), he'd almost completely forgot about the contents.

He found the small portion of food and water bottle they'd been issued, as well as a compass. He placed them down before digging deeper. His fingers brushed against something metal, and he gripped it before pulling it out.

A pair of handcuffs came out. He frowned. Handcuffs counted as a weapon?

He tossed everything back in his pack save for his map and compass, and slung his bag over his shoulder. It would probably be too dark to properly navigate soon, and he wanted to get out of the forest before then. Even if it offered him some cover, he couldn't shake his paranoia that there could be someone else just a few steps behind him, hidden within the trees.

By the time he reached the village, it was properly dark, and he was finding it hard to navigate without tripping over anything. Most of the houses seemed to be locked, too - but he stumbled through it until he found a door that opened when he turned the handle. That worried him - it meant that either the islander who had lived here had been careless about locking their door, or someone had gotten here before him. Maybe they were still here.

He tried to open it as quietly as he could, but it creaked noisily and ruined any attempt at stealth he'd made. Damn you door.

"Oishi?"

Oishi tensed, and prepared to back out the house, but his nerves calmed a little when he saw who it was, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Eiji," he said. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Eiji said. He sounded uncharacteristically quiet. "Are you alone?"

"Yeah. You?"

Eiji nodded, though it was hard to see in the dark. Oishi moved to turn the light on, but Eiji yelped in protest, stopping him. When he looked at him, startled, Eiji just said, "I just thought- having the light on would make us more of a target... if it was on, people would know we were in here."

Oishi nodded. Right, of course. That made sense. He moved further into the room and sat down on the floor next to Eiji. He felt, for the first time since he'd left the school- or since he'd woken up in it, even- safe. There was no way anyone would see them from outside, and unless they went around checking every door like he had, chances were nobody would find them accidentally.

The house was small, and looked like it hadn't been lived in for a while; everything was covered in a thin layer of dust that made Oishi want to sneeze. Other than that, though, it looked like everything had been left exactly they way it had been on the day it's residents had left - like they'd just upped and moved without warning. Exactly how long had this island been uninhabited? How long had this game been being planned...? Oishi was full of questions, but he knew even if he sat and thought about them all day, he wouldn't be able to come up with any answers. So instead, he asked Eiji, "What was in your bag?"

Eiji smiled grimly, then pulled out something, handing it to Oishi. It was... photographs. Three polaroids. He had to squint to see them in the limited amount of light they had, and even then he couldn't really make them out, so Eiji just said, "It's photos. Of us. If you put them together, you can see the whole classroom." He paused, then, sounding uncomfortable, he said, "They must have taken them while we were still out cold. What did you get?"

"Handcuffs," Oishi sighed. "So both of us got useless weapons? Good thing we weren't going to be using them, anyway."

Eiji was quiet.

"I mean, we weren't going to be using them, right?" Oishi said. He wanted reassurance that someone else was still sane in all this, and while he already trusted Eiji completely, he wanted to hear the words from his mouth.

"Oishi," Eiji said, his voice soft. "If someone came at you with a weapon drawn, would you fight them?"

Oishi looked down at his hands, wringing them together as he thought. The question made him feel uncomfortable. "I- I could run away-"

"What if you couldn't run?" Eiji said, "What if they had you cornered, and you didn't have a way to escape?"

"So you're asking me if I'd rather let myself be killed than kill someone else?" Oishi said. Eiji didn't respond. Maybe he'd realised how crazy he'd been talking, Oishi thought. "Anyway," Oishi said, after that awkward pause, "We won't have to kill anyone. If we can just get the whole team together, I'm sure we'll find a way out of this without having to hurt anyone. Tezuka will know what to do."

Eiji made a neutral noise beside him. Oishi sighed, and stood, making his way to a cupboard in the corner of the room. Inside it he found bedding, as he'd expected. He pulled out two futons, and Eiji said, sounding almost disbelieving, "We're not really gonna sleep?"

"It's not like we have much of a choice," Oishi said, "if we don't sleep, we're not going to be able to look for the others tomorrow. Besides, we're at a disadvantage at night, so it's best to move during the day."

"I guess," Eiji said. He checked his watch, the LED dial glowing in the dark. "Let's do it in shifts then, ok? I'll wake you up in three hours, so you sleep first."  
Oishi didn't think that was a good idea - or rather, he thought it was, but he didn't want to admit to himself that that was necessary. Nobody would kill them... even though he'd seen someone murdered in front of his eyes earlier.

He left his jersey on as he got under the sheets, seeing as the house was cold without heating. As he was drifting off to sleep, Eiji said, "If you were in danger, I'd kill the person even if you wouldn't."

Oishi pretended not to hear that.

* * *

Aoi Kentarou, from Rokkaku, was equally as unimpressed by his weapon as Eiji and Oishi had been by their's. It was big, heavy, made of wood and covered in carvings of kangaroos. It was a boomerang, btw. He had never seen on in real life, and he never thought he would, either, and he wondered if this even constituted as a weapon.

He had made his way to the beach after getting out of the school. If anything, it made him feel a little calmer, and he seemed to have been the only one who had come there - which was weird, because in his opinion, it would be the best way to assess the situation. He couldn't see any land in the distance, though, even though it was a clear night and it had still been pretty light when he'd got down there. He wondered how far off shore they were.

So it looked like they had no chance of swimming back home. Not that they had anyway, he reminded himself - hadn't that guy said something about not trying to escape the island? If they even tried, their collars would be detonated.

He sat down on the sand, and took his water out his bag. He tried to conserve it, but he was thirsty, and before he knew it half the bottle was gone, and he spilled some more when a deep voice spoke, startling him.

"The captain of Rokkaku?"

Aoi twisted round, stumbling to his feet. He calmed a little when he saw who it was, though.

"Tezuka from Seigaku," he said. "What's wrong? Haven't you found your team yet?"

"No," Tezuka said. "I don't really know where to look."

True that, brother, Aoi thought. Even though the island wasn't very big, it was new to them, and with everyone scattering in a panic after getting out of the building, and with no way to contact each other, it seemed almost impossible that they could meet up with their teams again, even with a whole week to do so...

"What direction did you come from?" Tezuka asked, and Aoi pointed. "And you didn't see anyone along the way?" Aoi shook his head. Tezuka frowned. "I came from along the beach." He said. "I heard an explosion."

An EXPLOSION?! Aoi couldn't understand how Tezuka could stay so level headed and calm in the middle of all this, but he had to admire the guy. He felt a little bad that, as captain of Rokkaku, he couldn't be nearly as composed - but he was just an ichinen.

"A-an explosion?" Aoi stammered. "I can't believe it..."

"It might have been nothing," Tezuka said, but he didn't sound very confident.

Aoi wasn't confident either. "I can't believe they'd give us explosives..." he rubbed at his chin thoughtfully. "I can't believe someone would use them..."  
Tezuka was staring off into the distance, probably towards the direction that he had heard the explosion come from. Aoi felt antsy, standing out there in the open with Tezuka, one of the strongest tennis players ever. He thought that maybe people would target the stronger tennis players. That would make sense, right? People who were tougher would be harder to take down, or something.

"We should go find our teams," Tezuka said, unfolding his arms from across his chest (he had them crossed btw). "I'm sure once we do, we'll be able to make some sort of plan to get out of here without hurting each other." He left off the 'anymore' at the end, but Aoi knew what he meant.

"I agree," he said, nodding. With not much left to say, he thought he should leave - the sooner he looked for his team, the sooner he'd find them! - but he didn't get to say goodbye. An arm wrapped around his chest and pulled him close and then he felt a sharp, slicing pain across his neck.

He felt something hot spill down his front and he felt dizzy when he looked down and realised it was his own blood.

Had this been a trap?

No, Tezuka was surprised as he was. Aoi fell to his knees, and then collapsed onto the ground, curling in on himself. In his last moments of consciousness, he wondered if Tezuka would run or fight.

**38 students remaining.**


	4. Chapter 4 - Day 1

**Morning of Day 1**

"Good morning, students."

Sakuno woke up to what she thought was Kurobe, right beside her. When she sat up from her uncomfortable sleeping position and looked around, though, she realised it was not the man himself but a transmission of his voice. She couldn't place where the voice was coming from, and couldn't see any speakers or anything around, but his voice was loud and clear, presumably all over the island.

"It's now 6 A.M. I hope you're used to early rises."

She looked to Tomoka, who was waking up beside her. It seemed that Tomoka was a deep sleeper, because she hadn't even stirred at the first blast of Kurobe's voice.

Sakuno and Tomoka had been released, coincidentally, right alongside each other. Sakuno had come out of the building first, run about fifty yards, and then broke down beside a tree to cry. How could this have happened to her? She'd known it was weird that she'd been invited to this camp - she was on the girl's tennis team, sure, but the girl's tennis team couldn't even win at prefecturals. Of course she should've known they wouldn't get invited to an elite training camp, especially not one like Ryouma-kun would go to! She felt so stupid!

She remembered how she'd talked about it at the dinner they'd had the night before, her and her grandma. Thinking back on it, grandma had been really quiet as she'd talked away about how excited she was for camp, when usually she'd be just as enthusiastic about the subject of tennis. Had her grandmother known this was going to happen? Or had she just been imagining things?

The announcement continued.

"Well, without further ado, I'll proceed with the morning announcement. First of all, I'll announce the names of your dead classmates."

Sakuno tensed.

"First of all, Itsuki Marehiko, of Rokkaku."

The name didn't mean anything to Sakuno, but even so she felt a pang of sadness at the announcement of the death.

"Next, all at once, Arai Masashi, Horio Satoshi, Katou Kachirou, and Mizuno Katsuo, all from Seigaku."

Tomoka had woken up properly now. Her hair, usually tied up tidily in pigtails, was messy, and she stared blankly ahead. Neither of them said anything. Sakuno couldn't believe it. The announcement affected her more this time, because these were boys she'd known, and who she'd known to be good people. Who could possibly kill them...?

"Next, Aoi Kentarou, Rokkaku's captain."

But the worst news was yet to come-

"And finally, Tezuka Kunimitsu, captain of Seigaku. That concludes the morning announcement."

Sakuno's eyes widened, then watered. Tezuka...?

"No way," Tomoka said, "That has to be a lie. Who could kill Tezuka...?"

Sakuno felt sick. Tezuka was one of the strongest boys she knew, and one of the most respected. If someone could kill him, then they could kill anyone, even a sweet innocent girl like her or Tomoka...

"That is all," Kurobe continued. "Tomorrow there will be another announcement. Make sure to tune in, and if you can't...even better!" Before he was cut off he let out a chuckle. Was that a joke? Sakuno didn't think it was very funny. It made her feel worse actually. Kurobe should never be a comedian with that sick sense of humor. Sakuno looked over at her friend uneasily. Tomoka had a hardened expression as she fidgeted with the hem of her skirt.

"Tomo-chan..." she said, her voice wavering. "T-Tezuka...and the others..."

"Serves them right," Tomoka said, making a face. Sakuno was taken aback. What? Tomoka pushed herself up and stretched her arms above her head. "Do you really think Horio was smart enough to survive that long? Or the others, for that matter." She paused. "Except for Tezuka. I can't believe someone would get him. Maybe he-"

"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno cried, before putting her hand over her mouth, remembering that they were hiding. "How can you be so cruel! They were our friends and now they're- they're-"

"I know that," Tomoka sat down beside Sakuno again and grabbed her wrists. "Sakuno, we just have to fight and do our very best. We can't worry about anyone else for right now, okay? They're dead, but we're not, right?" She tried her hardest to smile. Sakuno felt a little calmer. "We'll try to find Ryouma, because he'll know what to do the best, but we have to look after ourselves first."

Sakuno quickly wiped at her cheeks. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying. She nodded. Tomoka was right - as much as it saddened her, she couldn't mourn her friends' deaths right then. They had to watch out for themselves and then they'd be able to find others and think of a plan. Or hold a funeral for their dead friends. Or something. Sakuno wasn't really sure. Me neither sista. "You're right," she said, smiling slightly at her friend.

Tomoka pulled her into a tight hug, and Sakuno was glad she had her friend there with her.

* * *

Kite listened to the announcement with a blank expression.

It wasn't that he didn't care. He barely knew the Seigaku members or Itsuki from Rokkaku, but he certainly knew Tezuka and Aoi, as they were both captains of their teams like he was. He respected them both, but hearing about their deaths didn't faze him. He wasn't too surprised, though.

Kite had only ran into one other player so far, and it was a player he hadn't anticipated seeing at this "camp" - Ginka Chuu's own captain, Fukushi Michiru. The boy was still asleep despite the loud announcement. Kite reached down and shook his shoulder gently.

The boy's eyes fluttered open and he was up in an instant, his eyes wide and wild. He calmed after a few panicky moments, though, and slumped back down. "Don't do that," he murmured.

Kite wasn't even sure why he had approached Fukushi when he had found the boy keeled over in the forest. He could have gotten him square in the back of his head with a bolt from his crossbow, but instead he had walked over and made sure that the boy was okay. Kite felt frustrated that he had done it, too, since the boy seemed like more trouble than he was worth.

"Did you hear the announcement?" Kite asked.

Fukushi rubbed at his eyes. They were settled in a small one-room cabin in the middle of the forest. How they had found it was anyone's guess - it had been pure luck. It didn't look like anyone had been there before, either. Kite watched as Fukushi sat up again and slouched against his knees. "I heard the end of it.." He looked over at Kite. "Tezuka from Seigaku is dead, right? I wonder who did it-"

"It doesn't matter who," Kite said quickly, scowling. A tense silence fell over the two. Fukushi looked away. Kite hadn't meant to snap - he was just telling the truth. It really didn't matter who had killed the Seigaku captain, as long as whoever it was didn't come after them. "Are you feeling better?" He asked, feeling a little embarrassed to be asking a question like that..

When he had first found Fukushi, the boy had been suffering from a stomach ache. He seemed to be better now, but Kite had to fill the silence with something. Even if that something was embarrassing questions.

The Ginka captain looked at him again. "Yeah," he mumbled. He appeared as annoyed as Kite felt that he had relied on the Higa Chuu member to get to safety. Fukushi had the same kind of pride as Kite - he could understand how it must have felt. "Just a little cold, I guess."

Kite made a face. Before the other boy could protest, Kite took off his signature Higa Chuu specially embroidered jacket and threw it in his face. "Put it on," Kite spat, his ears hot. "You don't want to get sicker."

Fukushi stared at him with a surprised expression before hurrying to shrug the jersey on. He turned red as he thanked him quietly.

Kite was lucky that the guy didn't seem to talk much. He let his eyes slip closed - he hadn't slept much or at all last night, as he had been keeping watch as the sick boy had slept soundly. The forest outside sounded calm, and he was thankful. He felt somehow relaxed now that Fukushi was awake and he could take a break.

"So, uh." Kite frowned when Fukushi spoke up again. "Is it just you from your team here?"

"There's only two of us," Kite said. "Myself and Chinen."

"Are you going to try to find him?"

Kite opened his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. He hadn't thought once about going to find the other Higa Chuu member. Chinen wasn't a baby that couldn't take care of himself. Kite assumed that Seigaku - or what was left of Seigaku after five of their members had fallen - and teams like Fudomine were trying to team up. Maybe Rikkai, too. Kite wasn't terribly worried about them, though - he was more worried about the people who would stray from their teams and actively seek out others to kill. Like Akutsu Jin, he thought. That guy had the balls. Kite assumed that Akutsu was the one to take Tezuka down, if not the others as well.

"Kite?"

"Sorry," Kite said, realizing he hadn't answered the boy's question. "No, I don't think I'll try to find him. I don't see the point."

"Well," Fukushi said after a few seconds. "I'm the only one from my team here, so I'm alone. That guy said we were allowed to pair up, so I'm kind of...uh, left out."

"It's not good to pair up," Kite snapped.

"I know that," Fukushi snapped back. Kite was surprised. Perhaps this kid had the balls as well. "I'm not an idiot. I'd just think that meeting up with your team would at least give you more protection for when you'd have to...you know. Kill someone. Or someones."

Kite snickered. "It's not like my team is Seigaku, Fukushi. We would have killed each other first."

Fukushi was quiet. "Do you know how to shoot a bow? Like, archery stuff."

The question baffled Kite. What the hell kind of leadup was that? It seemed so random. "Why?"

"If I'm going to go on my own, I'll have to know how to use my weapon," Fukushi said sheepishly. Kite realized that he hadn't even asked the boy what his weapon had been, which had been a mistake on his part. He could have had a bomb or something and left it with Kite in the night. Or poison. Or a gun. He had let his guard down. With a shrug, he cast a nonchalant look over to him. "Sure, I know how to shoot a bow. Do you want me to teach you?"

It might have been a foolish move. What if he was lying and the boy clocked him with a shovel or something? That would truly be an embarrassing way for Kite Eishirou to die. The kid wasn't lying though, because he slipped a bow and a pouch of arrows out of his duffel bag and followed Kite as they went outside to find something to target.

The cabin they had stayed the night in was at the top of a small hill looking down a slope of trees. It was secluded, but not secluded enough that they couldn't see a good ways down the hill. Kite adjusted Fukushi's hands on the bow and helped him pull his arm back to prepare to fire the arrow. "See that tree down there, with the moss on it?" He pointed it out to Fukushi, who's hands were trembling from holding the bow in the one position for so long. "Aim there. That's your target."

Fukushi nodded tersely. With almost laughable dramatics, he released the arrow and it landed with a loud "thunk" in the bark of the tree down the hill. It was a nearly perfect hit.

Kite whistled, impressed. "Good job." He lay a hand on Fukushi's shoulder and the boy shrugged it off, looking embarrassed but smiling. "I'll go get the arrow back," Kite said before walking down towards the tree. He slid a little on the slope, but other than that, everything was perfectly fine as he walked down. He reached the tree without any problems and, as he wrapped a hand around the arrow, he was suddenly caught in a headlock by someone he hadn't even noticed was nearby.

Kite grunted and attempted to pull the arm from around his neck away, but it wasn't budging. He could see the yellow jersey in his peripherals, and even as he struggled he was able to tell that a Rikkai member was doing this to him. Why they weren't using their weapon and were instead resorting to this kind of physical violence was Kite's guess, but it wasn't like he had time to ask.

The person holding him tightened their grip. Kite knew a thing or two about deadly moves and knew that while this wasn't as polished as he would have appreciated, the person could easily crush his windpipe with their strength alone. He began to go weak as his brain slowly stopped getting oxygen, and his hands slipped away from his attacker's arms and his feet stopped kicking at their knees.

As soon as Kite began to wonder if that was really how he was going to die, his attacker's grip around him vanished and he slumped to the ground, panting and rubbing at his neck. He heard the grass rustle as Fukushi slid down the hill, bow in hand and with a panicked expression.

"Kite!" He gasped, falling to his knees beside him. "Are you okay?"

Kite turned to look at his attacker, ignoring the boy. It had been one of Rikkai's members like he had suspected - Jackal Kuwahara. He barely knew anything about him, but he hadn't expected to be assaulted by him. He was laid on the ground with an arrow through the side of his head.

Kite looked back at Fukushi, who was still looking at him with a nervous expression. The boy didn't seem concerned with the fact that he had just killed someone. Kite was even more impressed with that than he was that Fukushi had been so accurate with his bow.

Maybe pairing up with Fukushi wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

Dan had listened to the morning announcement in silence, and Akutsu had watched him. The younger boy had his knees pulled up against his chest, his arms wrapped round them, a fusty blanket over his shoulders.

He had barely spoken since they'd met, by chance, in the woods last night. That worried Akutsu - he was used to Dan never shutting up, and he never thought he'd want him to go back to being like that, but he did. Now Dan just sat there, silent, almost catatonic, and it freaked Akutsu out.

"Hey," Akutsu said. Dan turned to face him, slowly, but his wide eyes remained blank. "We should eat. What do you want for breakfast?"

The most important thing, in Akutsu's mind, was keeping Dan's strength up. The other couldn't fight, but if he needed it, he had to have the energy to run. Akutsu had found a small house out of sheer luck, since it wasn't marked on the map, and led Dan towards it. He'd tried to get the other to sleep, but he was pretty sure Dan had been awake all night.

There was a chicken coop in the back yard of the house, and Akutsu had found eggs. He was thinking about making something with them, when Dan finally spoke up.

"Five people from Seigaku are dead," Dan said.

"Yeah," Akutsu muttered.

"And two from Rokkaku."

Akutsu just shrugged. What was he meant to say? He wished he knew what to say in situations like this, because Dan's voice was shaky, his bottom lip quivering, and Akutsu had no idea what he'd do if he started the cry. Yell at him, probably, which would only make matters worse.

Luckily, Dan's eyes remained dry.

"Akutsu-senpai," he said, "Have you...?"

He trailed off. Akutsu had an uneasy feeling in his gut as Dan said, "I mean, did you...?"

He didn't finish his question this time, either, but Akutsu knew what he was trying to ask.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to," Akutsu said. "How do you like your eggs?"

Dan didn't answer, so he had to guess. He fried them, and then placed the plate down in front of Dan, who stared at them, then picked up a fork and poked at them cautiously.

"They're not poisoned," Akutsu said, sharply. Dan winced, and he felt bad. "Hey, I'm sorry, alright?" But now it sounded fake, like he didn't really mean it. That was annoying. He did mean it. "Just eat up, alright?" He couldn't tell if Dan was listening. He was just staring at his food again.

"Please?" Akutsu tried. Finally, Dan broke off a bit of his egg and brought it to his mouth, and Akutsu felt a sense of accomplishment, especially after the first taste of food seemed to kickstart Dan's appetite and he cleared his plate.

When Dan had finished, Akutsu took his plate and moved to the kitchen with it. He placed it on the counter, and then went to the sink to fill their water bottles. With a frown, he noticed that Dan had barely touched his.

"You've gotta keep hydrated," Akutsu said, making his way back to the living room where he'd left Dan. He tossed the water bottle to him, and Dan started when it landed next to him. Dan was a mess - which was understandable, given the situation. Should he be more worried about how Dan seemed completely out of it, or how he felt completely calm?

No, if he was going to worry about anything, he should be concerned about how easily he'd killed the boy from Rokkaku. He'd never fired a gun before, but the small, plain pistol he'd found in his pack hadn't been hard to work out. He just had to point and shoot - and at such a short range, with such a slow target, it had been easy.

Dan hadn't asked if he'd killed anyone, but if he looked in Akutsu's pack, he wouldn't have to - after all, the blunderbus, water bottle and map and compass he'd taken from Itsuki were all in there. Incriminating evidence.

Akutsu wouldn't have lied even if he had asked, though. Was there any point in lying? If it came to it, Akutsu would kill anyone who threatened them. Dan would object, but there was nothing else he could do- there was no other way to survive this.

He thought he had the best odds, out of all of them. There were some other strong guys amongst them, sure, but he was the only one he knew that actually knew how to fight. Or... well, there were those guys from Higa, but he was sure he could take them. He was caught up in his thoughts when Dan said something.

"What?" Akutsu said. He hadn't caught it, and he didn't know if it was because he hadn't been paying attention, or because Dan's voice was so quiet.

"I said I want to trust you, Akutsu-senpai," Dan mumbled. "But I'm not sure if I can."

Akutsu was quiet. It was the most he'd heard Dan say at once since he'd found him.

"Everyone thinks you're a bad person, but I don't- I've always thought you were good, really, but..." Dan had taken off his headband, and was futtering with it as he talked, distracted. His hair fell in his face without it and Akutsu couldn't see his expression as he talked. "But I feel like on this island you'll really hurt someone, and it scares me."

"I won't hurt anyone," Akutsu said. "I promise."

He didn't know why he was making a promise when he knew he wouldn't be able to keep it, but he just wanted Dan to stop looking so afraid, and it seemed to work, at least. Dan finally looked up, and he managed a small smile as he said, "I'm glad."

"Unless," Akutsu said, and Dan's smile faltered, but he continued, firmly, "Unless someone's threatening us. If it looks like they're going to hurt us, then we're going to use self-defense. Does that sound alright to you?"

The look on Dan's face made it clear that even self defence was something he didn't want to consider, but he didn't object. He sat where he was and fidgeted with his headband.

Annoyed, Akutsu stepped forward and pulled it out of his hands, pulling it back onto his head. Dan blinked and looked up, blearily, and Akutsu shouldered both of their packs.

"Keep your hair out of your face, or you're gonna end up falling," Akutsu grumbled. "Come on, let's get moving. We should at least try to find some way of getting off this island."

**37 students remaining.**


	5. Chapter 5 - Day 1

Afternoon had finally struck, but Atobe was _still _stewing about the morning announcements.

He and Kabaji were travelling in the general direction of the coast in hopes to maybe ice (heh) a fool or at least use it to get around the island better. Atobe was being carried in Kabaji's capable arms because he was too angry to walk on his own, also Kabaji couldn't say no to ore-sama's request to carry him. He was too wealthy to walk through the gross forest like this - what if he got a cut on his beautiful legs? His shins alone were insured for 1,000,000 USD. That's a lot of USD. He was sure that Kurobe character didn't have nearly enough USD to reimburse him if need be.

Atobe had his arms crossed like a bratty child as he mulled over the news Kurobe had announced. Only one of the death announcements bothered him, because he had a part in killing three of them, and the other two were of little to no importance to him. He was hung up over Tezuka's death.

It didn't make any sense. If anyone was going to kill Tezuka, it was going to be _him. _It made Atobe's blood boil to know that Tezuka had allowed himself to fall victim to someone lesser than the EMPEROR. It made Atobe mad to think about who could have done that without even consulting him first.

Kabaji and Atobe finally broke from the trees and found themselves on a sandy beach. The waves were crashing up against the shore and the wind was nice and cool on Atobe's skin. It would have been the perfect place to build the next Atobe beach house, if there hadn't been a gorefest by the water.

Atobe felt his heart stop when he recognized that blue and white uniform.

He hopped out of Kabaji's arms and sprinted over. Indeed, his worst fears were confirmed - there was Tezuka (and Aoi, but he didn't care) laid lifeless on the beach, his blood turning the sand a dark reddish brown.

There were stab wounds all over his chest and slices across his throat. It was obviously the work of the razor lodged in the sand next to him. Neither Tezuka nor Aoi's bags were anywhere to be found, so Atobe suspected that someone else had already found the pair and looted them. The bastards. Only Atobe could loot Tezuka's corpse.

Not that he would. He felt a weird pang of sadness as he gently reached down and brushed Tezuka's hair away from his face. He then looked over at Aoi and felt a rush of anger. What a son of a bitch. Aoi obviously had killed Tezuka and then, in his immediate guilt over what he had done, killed himself. It was the only thing that made sense to Atobe. He reached over and yanked the razor out of the wet sand. If anyone was going to keep the weapon that slayed Tezuka Kunimitsu, it was going to be _him!_

Kabaji was standing next to him now, looking sadly down at the bodies. Atobe forcibly yanked his bag off of Kabaji's arm and shoved the razor into it. "Let's keep moving," Atobe said in a clipped tone, blinking quickly to keep his eyes from watering.

"Usu," Kabaji said, following after his captain down the coast.

* * *

Seigaku (minus Oishi and Eiji and, obviously, Tezuka) had been able to find each other using their Seigaku bond quite easily. The entire team had been invited to the island, minus Kawamura who had turned down the invitation in order to help his father out at the sushi shop. It had been everyone's plan to meet up with the rest of the team, but that was clearly impossible now.

The entire crew was quiet as they skulked through the trees. Ever since they had heard that Tezuka had been killed, they had been on the move to find Eiji and Oishi before it was too late. They were also looking for the girls, but the golden pair were their priority.

Ryouma hadn't stopped thinking about the girls, though. After he had heard that Horio, Kachiro and Katsuo were dead, he got nervous, and Ryouma _never _got nervous, not even when he was forced to dress up as a princess for Rikkai's silly school play. If the other ichinen were so easily taken out, it wouldn't surprise Ryouma too much if Tomoka and Sakuno were taken out similarly. He didn't like to even consider it, but it was true. He knew there were some people who would target them and An Tachibana just because they were girls…

He tried to shake the thought out of his head. He was sure they'd be fine. They would be especially good at hiding out, he was sure.

Nobody had talked for a long time after Tezuka was announced dead. Kaidoh and Momo appeared particularly affected by the announcement, and ever since that morning they hadn't said a single thing. Ryouma hoped for everyone's sake that they wouldn't snap in rage if they accidentally ran into anyone.

As if Ryouma predicted the future, the trees rustled beside the Seigaku group and out popped Saeki Koujirou, the vice captain of Rokkaku.

"Boo!" he said, holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers menacingly.

As if Ryouma also predicted Momo's reaction, Momo shot forward and put his stun gun up against Saeki's arm. Not the most efficient place to stun gun someone, but Saeki fell to his knees, gripping his arm in shock. Saeki was lucky that Kaidoh hadn't whipped out his assault rifle too.

"Momo-senpai!" Ryouma slapped Momo's arm.

"S-sorry," Momo apologized, looking frightened. "H-he scared me!"

"It's okay," Saeki after a few moments of catching his breath. He still took deep gasps of breath between his words. "Wow, that really surprised me…"

"You surprised us," Fuji said, his voice gentle. He knelt down beside Saeki and smiled at him, taking a hold of Saeki's arm and making sure that it wasn't hurt by the stun gun. Fuji didn't know much about what stun guns did, but he assumed they must leave some sort of mark. There didn't appear to be anything immediately, though.

"Sorry about that," Saeki said, grinning sheepishly. "I just saw you guys and thought it'd be safer…to be with you guys then by myself…"

"Have you found anyone from-" Fuji stopped himself. He had forgotten that two Rokkaku members had already been taken out. Bane and Dabide were still somewhere, but with numbers like that, it was very unlikely that they'd find each other easily…

"Sorry about your captain," Fuji said, smiling sadly.

"And yours," Saeki said grimly, nodding back.

Fuji helped Saeki get to his feet. Momo and Kaidoh still looked mighty suspicious of the Rokkaku member. "What weapon do you have?" Momo asked, gazing at the bag over Saeki's shoulder.

Saeki let out a chuckle, unzipping it and pulling out a paper fan. Seigaku let out a collective sigh of relief. At least he didn't have like a nuclear bomb in there. It was a pretty nice paper fan, though.

"At least you can fan yourself to keep yourself cool," Fuji joked.

"I guess." Saeki put it back into his bag and zipped it back up. "Where are you guys going? You don't mind if I tag along, do you?"

"We're trying to find Oishi and Eiji," Inui said. He had been sketching notes onto his map this whole time and hadn't really been saying anything of use really.

Saeki nodded gravely, looking serious. "I don't mind. I'd feel better if I was with you guys...this is all too crazy for me."

Seigaku welcomed him into their group quickly as to keep moving. They didn't have time to waste. Inui stopped them just before they left the woods to cross over a path.

"Look," he said in a strained whisper.

He was point down the path towards the beach. There were two corpses laid on the sand. One of them was in a distinctive red uniform, and the other in a blue and white jersey…

"Oh," Fuji moaned, looking away. He looked sick.

Ryouma couldn't believe it. It was one thing to hear it, but another thing to see it. There he was, the true pillar of Seigaku, dead as a doornail on the beach. It was chilling and made Ryouma feel as sick as Fuji looked, but he couldn't let it get to him that much. This wasn't a game. This was life or death. He hoped the rest of Seigaku agreed.

Kaidoh and Momo looked ready to burst out of the trees, but Saeki held them back. "Don't," he said, his voice dark, probably because HIS captain was out there too, just as dead as Tezuka. Kaidoh looked like he was going to protest when someone emerged from the trees on the other side of the clearing wearing a Hyoutei uniform.

"Atobe," Fuji murmured.

Indeed, it was Atobe. He fumbled over to Tezuka before dropping to his knees. Seigaku watched as an obviously distressed Atobe ran his hands over Tezuka's face for a few tensely silent moments before reaching over and grabbing something from the sand. It glinted in the sun, but it was obviously whatever had killed Tezuka and/or Aoi.

As quickly as he had appeared, Atobe disappeared, heading in the direction Seigaku had come from along the beach with Kabaji behind him. After they had confirmed that Atobe was far enough away for them to safely exit the trees, they did so, carefully approaching Tezuka and Aoi's bodies.

"Oh, buchou," Momo blubbered between his sobs.

"Who could have done this?" Saeki asked in a low, dangerous tone. He was looking at Aoi with pained eyes. He was obviously feeling the same way that the Seigaku regulars were about Tezuka.

Inui and Fuji were already next to the bodies, inspecting them. Fuji out of curiosity over the scene in front of him (he had gotten over his initial reaction) and Inui for the data.

"Who do you think did this?" Kaidoh asked in a low grumble.

"Atobe?" Momo said in a quiet voice. "If it was him, I'll-"

"It wasn't Atobe," Inui said clearly and calmly. "Tezuka was killed yesterday, and judging by Atobe's actions back there, that was the first he had seen of Tezuka as well."

"Then who?"

"It looks like they did it to each other," Saeki spoke up, still looking gravely down at his dead captain. "There are no other weapons here, right? Only whatever Atobe took."

"That doesn't make sense," Fuji said, casting a look at Saeki over his shoulder. "They don't even have their bags here. Someone could have come and set them up. Why wouldn't they have anything but whatever Atobe just took?"

Ryouma hadn't even thought about that. Fuji was very smart - he deserved the title tensai. Saeki looked frustrated with his suggestion being turned down so quickly. "Maybe they were looted. Atobe just did it."

"Why would they leave something?"

"I don't know!" Saeki cried. "I'm as confused as you guys are - this involves my captain too, you know!"

Fuji kept looking at Saeki for a few moments after everyone else had already turned away.

"Maybe they got into a fight," Inui said, flipping Tezuka's hands over. "See? There's cuts all over his palms. Maybe the weapon Atobe took was a knife or something…"

"Then who killed Aoi?" Kaidoh muttered.

"Maybe he killed himself after realizing what he did to Tezuka," Momo said, glaring over at Aoi's dead body.

Saeki looked angrily over at Momo. "Aoi would never do something like that. He was a gentle soul."

"So was Tezuka," Momo retaliated.

"Let's not fight," Fuji said calmly, standing. He smiled at everyone, which calmed everyone down a good amount. "It doesn't matter whether or not they killed each other. If that's true, then they're both dead. Unfortunately."

"Fuji's right," Inui agreed. He adjusted his glasses. "We should get out of here and find Oishi and Eiji as soon as possible and discuss things like this when we have our team together."

Saeki still looked bitter as they left the beach and entered back into the safety of the trees, but it was understandable - I mean, if he had accused Tezuka of murdering Aoi, Ryouma would have been pretty salty too.

* * *

Rikkai was a very efficient team. Hence why they were the first team to gather up without any snags or hang ups. In fact, Yukimura had already sent several of his teammates out to scope out the area and to kill anyone they found, only to have Jackal die at the hands of Ginka Chuu's captain, Fukushi Michiru, who was virtually worthless in every aspect.

Yukimura sat cross legged on the grassy forest floor and combed his hair with his fingers before pushing his headband back into place. What was left team was watching him anxiously, waiting for his command on what to do now.

"Captain," Kirihara said in a murmur, eyes wobbling with tears. "What are we going to do?"

They watched as Yukimura leant back with his eyes closed serenely. His brow was furrowed slightly, but other than that, he did not seem bothered by the whole situation.

"Well, we wouldn't need to do anything if someone had succeeded in aiding Jackal," Yukimura said, his glare pinpointing on Marui, who was shaking where he sat. "Marui." The redhead flinched, but nodded his head at his captain. "I suppose it was foolish to send out a duo without a proper weapon between them, but I trusted your strength. We did not anticipate Kite to be paired up with someone however. So it wasn't _entirely _your fault, Marui."

Marui nodded.

"Unfortunately, only two of us got any weapon of real value," Yukimura continued. It was true - Kirihara and Yagyuu were the only ones to get real weapons - a sniper rifle and a semi-automatic rifle - while the rest were burdened with garbage. Sanada was given a frying pan - pathetic. Marui was given a camera - a joke. Niou was given a condom - Yukimura didn't even want to think about it. Yukimura's own weapon, the meat hook, wasn't particularly useful, but at least it could be used as a weapon if need be. However, he didn't have any plans on getting in range close enough with anyone to use it.

"I want you to go and scout out the area again," Yukimura said. The team looked surprised. "Niou and Kirihara will go together. Marui and Yagyuu will be the other group. Do not split off from each other and instead of killing anyone you find, only kill them if they are hostile towards you." Yukimura smiled at his team, who were shaking nervously. "Keep it short, as well. Come back before night falls."

"Y-yes," they said before dispersing into the woods in their groups.

Sanada was staring grimly at his captain, who leaned back again, his eyes closed. "They are scared, Yukimura."

"Do you care?" Yukimura questioned, opening one eye to peer at his vice-captain. "You didn't care when you slapped Marui for not protecting Jackal."

Sanada winced. True, he had slapped Marui for failing to protect Jackal, but it was out of habit more than actual anger towards it. In fact, he was mostly saddened by Jackal's death. It didn't seem real, somehow.

Yukimura was still looking at Sanada. "Don't make that face," Yukimura said after a few seconds, eyes narrowing. "Don't look so sad."

"Our teammate is dead, Yukimura." Sanada rubbed at his chin. "So is Tezuka. And that Seigaku second year and their three first years."

"And Rokkaku's captain and one of their regulars." Yukimura added. Sanada nodded solemnly. With a sigh, Yukimura reached over and pulled Sanada closer and rest his head on Sanada's shoulder. Sanada raised his hands to push Yukimura back to make sure he was okay, but Yukimura shook his head. "Don't."

Sanada didn't get it. Then Yukimura sniffed and reached a hand up to his face to wipe at his eyes. Then Sanada got it.

Sanada reached up and pat Yukimura on the shoulder. He couldn't even tell Yukimura that it was okay not to be tough, because it really wasn't, not here. Especially not when the rest of their team was so shaken after Jackal's death. As long as he and Yukimura were strong, then the rest of the team would continue to be strong.

Feeling Yukimura cry against his shoulder made him a little sad. The leader of this whole thing had said only one person could win this whole thing. It frustrated him. If Yanagi was there, he would probably be able to find a way for everyone to get out unharmed. He was smart like that. Unfortunately, he had been unable to go on this tennis trip. He wondered if Seigaku's Inui would be able to figure out a way for them to get out of there…

"Sanada," Yukimura said quietly, and Sanada looked down at him. "If it comes down to it, I want only Rikkai members are remaining at the end."

It was a shocking thing to say. Despite Yukimura's warm body pressed up against his side, Sanada suddenly felt cold. He knew that Yukimura knew the weight that his words had, and that scared him. He wanted Rikkai to make it to the final six, and no one else.

Sanada tugged Yukimura closer and looked up through the tree canopy up at the sky. It was going to be evening soon.

**37 students remaining.**


	6. Chapter 6 - Day 1

Nighttime had fallen over the island on the first day, and Kamio Akira still hadn't come across anybody.

He was nervously switching his baseball bat from hand to hand. He had never played baseball before, so the baseball bat felt foreign in his hands. It was heavier than a tennis racket, and probably much more useful as a weapon.

He hadn't seen any bodies yet, but he had heard the explosion that had killed Arai and the three freshmen from Seigaku. That alone was enough to scare him into the forest. He was on the far edge of the island, as far away from the original building as he could get. He hoped that nobody would go over there and that he'd be alone long enough to gather his thoughts. He hadn't expected this at all. Before he had left for the camp, Shinji and the other Fudomine regulars had wished him, Tachibana and An good luck. He had no idea how much he would be hoping that their wish of good luck would come true.

Kamio continued to pass the bat from hand to hand, keeping up a rhythm. As long as he had a rhythm, he was okay. He felt a little thirsty, but he couldn't let himself give up the rhythm - if he did, he'd probably go a little crazy.

His thoughts eventually wandered to An, who was out in the forest somewhere. He had a strong desire to go find her. Her and Tachibana. The only people he wanted to see were his teammates. If he saw anyone else, he wasn't sure what he'd do. He rolled the baseball bat in his hands. The wood was warming up under his palms.

The night was chilly, and Kamio could feel the wind seeping through his jacket. He placed the bat down for a moment so he could unroll his sleeves. Not having the bat in his hand made him feel nervous, even more nervous than he had with it in his hands. What if someone snuck up on him and got him while his pants were down? (they weren't really down, btw, just a saying)

The leaves of the trees rustled and Kamio couldn't tell if it was from the wind or from someone walking through the underbrush. His glance twitched around, trying to see through the shadows of the night for anyone. He didn't want to kill anybody, so he prayed that it was Tachibana, looking for him, just like any good captain was…

A twig snapped behind him. Kamio swung around. There was someone nearby. Kamio's heart was thumping in his ears as he carefully crept forward. He was lucky he had such light feet from all that dancing he did. He brushed through the leaves, his grip on the baseball bat tightening, and he desperately searched through the shadows, looking for any signs of life, and then he'd talk to them, and they'd be able to work together to find each other's teams, and they'd be fine-

There.

He launched forward and cracked his baseball bat against the person's head. It was a sickeningly loud noise and the following silence was deafening. Kamio breathed haggardly as he looked down at the boy now splayed on the grass face first. He was wearing a green uniform. Yamabuki. Kamio recognized him. He was Higashikata Masami. He was one of those plain and simple guys that played doubles against the Golden Pair. He brought his bat down again, colliding it with his head again. It sent a shockwave through Kamio's body, as if the boy's life force was draining up through the bat and entering Kamio's body through the bat. Kamio continued, sweat dampening his clothes despite it being so cold.

"Ah," he muttered as he brought his bat down one last time and brought a hand up to wipe at his face. "What a good rhythm..."

He felt weirdly empty as he stepped back, not even stopping to admire the beating he had given the unsuspecting Yamabuki member. The boy had been digging into one of his food rations. Idiot, Kamio thought as he knelt down and dug through the bag, collecting the contents, including the chef's knife that the boy had been given as a weapon. He should have been on guard. Like me. I'm never not on guard.

Kamio finally gave a passing glance at what had once been the face of Masami. "Sorry," he said, voice a little rough, before rushing back towards his own bag with all of Masami's old belongings.

* * *

"Wow," Dan breathed, looking up at the sky. "It sure is pretty here at night."

Akutsu exhaled slowly, watching his breath fog in front of his face. How it was so hot during the day but so cold overnight was baffling to Akutsu. He had never once been in a place like that. He wondered if this was even real, and to be honest, it didn't feel like it.

Ever since the morning, Dan had slowly warmed up to Akutsu again, but Dan still seemed hesitant at times, especially when Akutsu would meet Dan's eyes. It was a little painful to see the kid who had always been so friendly to him be so scared of him. Even though he probably had good reason to be. It made Akutsu a little melancholy.

"It sure is," Akutsu said, looking over at Dan, who was only in his shorts and t-shirt. "Aren't you cold?"

Dan was obviously trembling from the cold, but he shook his head anyway. "N-no."

"Don't be an idiot," Akutsu chastised, reaching over and splaying his hand over Dan's knee. "Your skin is freezing."

Dan yelped and yanked his knee away from Akutsu's touch. Before all this, Dan would have probably exploded with joy at Akutsu touching him so openly, so it made Akutsu a little sick to think that this experience would change Dan so much. He wished he had a cigarette.

After a minute of silence, Dan began shuffling where he sat. Akutsu looked over at him, vaguely interested in what the kid could possibly be doing, and realized that he was slowly inching towards Akutsu. When he got close enough that Akutsu could see the goosebumps on the kid's legs, Akutsu reached over and pulled Dan over by the shoulder. Dan let out a squeak of surprise, but soon settled into Akutsu's side, appreciating the bigger boy's warmth.

"The island is pretty during the day too," Dan said quietly.

Akutsu nodded, but didn't say anything. He was feeling preeeetty embarrassed about this. He was sure if Sengoku saw them like that, he'd never live it down.

Sengoku. He hadn't even thought of the other Yamabuki member. Akutsu wondered if he was doing alright - probably. He was really lucky. That luck might help him out.

Akutsu scowled when he realized what he was saying. This whole thing was entirely skill based and it wasn't like Sengoku's luck was a skill.

He looked down at Dan and found him snuggled against his side, dozing off. It had been a long, stressful day for the poor kid. Akutsu tugged him even closer and sighed. It was just the beginning of a long stressful few days.

* * *

In his pack, Sengoku Kiyosumi had found the standard issue water, map and compass, and a Smith & Wesson revolver. The gun was heavy in his hand - it was already loaded. Gingerly, he put it back in his bag, and shouldered the pack carefully. He didn't know the first thing about guns, and he didn't want to cause an accident - fortunately, though, it didn't go off. Maybe the safety was on - or maybe it was his good luck.

Good luck. Yeah right. Someone who was really lucky wouldn't have ended up here- but then, he'd also managed to avoid any encounters, so he supposed luck was still on his side. He couldn't help but feel like it wouldn't be long before it ran out, though.

The island was hot during the day, and humid too. Sengoku had decided he should try and rest during the day, then walk at night, when it was cooler - but when night drew in, he realised he had the opposite problem. It was bitterly cold at night, and he'd left his jersey on the bus.

Maybe he'd freeze to death. Well, that'd be better than being killed, at least. He'd started off doubting that anyone among them could murder, and then he'd heard the morning announcement. He'd have thought it was a joke, if he hadn't found the blackened remains of Seigaku's freshmen and second year strewn across a house that had been blewn apart from the inside out. It had made him feel sick. He'd tried not to vomit and failed, and then he'd wished he'd tried harder because now his stomach was completely empty, and he had no idea where or how to find food here.

Maybe he should just take matters into his own hands. Killing himself was better than being killed by someone else, or a slow death from starvation. And the perfect tool to do it with had fallen right into his hands - or his day pack, as the case happened to be.

The gun felt heavier as he lifted it again, but maybe that was because he felt weaker than when he had held it this morning. Even though it was cold, his forehead was clammy behind his bangs as he placed the muzzle against his temple. His hands trembled.

He pulled the trigger.

He'd never fired a gun before. The recoil took him by surprise. In addition to that, he flinched, and with the butt of the gun jumping up and his head pulling back, the pulled ended up firing vertically up, and it grazed the side of his forehead, making a mess of his brow but not even penetrating his skull.

Now Sengoku lay, back flat on the ground, staring up at the sky. He'd never seen so many stars before. They must be really far from civilization. Blood pooled over his right eye, and he blinked, raising a hand to wipe it away, but it kept pouring. He clamped his hand down over the gash the bullet had torn through his skin, and tried to will the bleeding to stop.

Why had he tried to do that? He shouldn't want to turn a gun on himself any more than he should want to turn it on another person. He wondered what kind of madness had gripped him.

He could hear rustling in the footsteps beside him, just outside his field of vision. He should have known that the gun shot would attract people's attention, but even then, he couldn't have counted on just how loud it would be. His ears were still ringing from it, but even so he could hear the footsteps draw closer, then slow. A figure loomed above him.

"Akutsu," he said. His throat was dry and his voice came out raspy. He grinned in spite of himself. "Are you gonna finish me off?"

Akutsu bent to pull the gun out of his hand, and straightened up. Sengoku closed his eyes. No doubt the other was taking aim right now- and unlike him, Sengoku thought, he wouldn't fuck it up.

"Sengoku-senpai!"

That was Dan's voice. Why was he here? Was he with Akutsu? Sengoku somehow wasn't surprised that he was still trailing behind their rebel player, even in a situation like this. But didn't he know how dangerous this was? He was going to end up dead.

"Come on," Akutsu grunted, kneeling down next to Sengoku. He slipped an arm around his shoulders and hauled him to his feet. It had never occurred to Sengoku how strong Akutsu was until now. It must have something to do with the size of his biceps. They were freakin' huge!

Sengoku didn't try to support himself, which seemed to piss Akutsu off. He elbowed him in the ribs and muttered, "Stand up, idiot. I'm not carrying you."

"We're probably not the only people who heard the gunshot, desu…" Dan worried, stepping closer to Sengoku. Sengoku latched an arm around him.

"Don't help him, Taichi," Akutsu snapped, annoyed, but he didn't say anything beyond that. They walked a little down the dirt path, then came to where Akutsu and Dan had been holding up. They'd left their packs there. Sengoku noticed, for the first time, that Akutsu had not brought a weapon with him. A mistake like that seemed out of character for him, but Sengoku hadn't known that before they'd heard the gunshot they'd been sleeping, and in the moments after they'd woken up, they'd forgotten about their situation long enough to make that mistake. In any other situation, it might have proved fatal. Akutsu would curse himself for it later on.

"It's probably not safe to be here any more," Akutsu said.

Well, they all knew that. Sengoku sat down, feeling faint - whether it was through loss of blood or hunger, he didn't know. Dan leant over him, concerned, and Akutsu just tutted loudly, obviously annoyed.

"What's wrong now?"

Sengoku's stomach growled.

"It's only been a day," Akutsu said. "You haven't been able to find food?"

Sengoku just gave him a look and a dumb smile, like "what're u gonna do?". It annoyed Akutsu. Sengoku had always annoyed Akutsu, and he knew it, but he thought that even though they weren't friends, he'd be safe here - at least, while Dan was around. Dan had always seemed to mellow Akutsu out, even when he was pretending he didn't.

As if to prove this theory, Akutsu dressed his head wound and reluctantly handed over some food, some stale rolls they'd found in a house. It was better than nothing, but Sengoku regretted eating it so quickly when his stomach began to ache.

Dan was the first to go to sleep. Sengoku sat across from him and Akutsu, shivering. He wondered if he could get some warm snugglin from Akutsu, but he didn't try it. He would probably get punched, and Sengoku did NOT need punched right now. or ever.

"Why'd you help me?" He asked, once he was sure Dan was asleep.

"Not like I could do anything else, with Taichi around," Akutsu muttered. He'd lit up a smoke (if you are viewing the english dub of this fic, released by salami studios, then it's a lollipop stick) and was puffin away on it like an old steam train.

"So if Dan hadn't been with you, you'd have done something else?"

"Do you want to die?"

Sengoku blinked stupidly. Was that a threat or a legitimate question? It sounded like one, but everything Akutsu said sounded kinda threatening. Not sure if he was meant to answer it or not, he said, "do you?"

"Of course not," Akutsu snapped. "But I want Taichi to win."

And he couldn't have everything he wanted. Sengoku understood.

"Well, if you're gonna knock me off, at least make sure you don't leave me in some embarrassing position. If a girl finds me, I don't want to look dumb in front of her."

"You are so annoying," Akutsu said. mte, akutsu, mte.

Dan shifted in his sleep, and the conversation was dropped.

** 36 students remaining.**


	7. Chapter 7 - Day 2

Oishi woke up, blearily blinking his eyes, to the staticky broadcasting of Kurobe's voice.

"Good morning," Kurobe said in a jovial voice. If they could see him, they'd see him smiling evilly. Even though they couldn't see him they just knew. "If you're hearing this, it means you've made it to your second day! Congratulations!"

Oishi sat up from the uncomfortable position he had fallen asleep in. Eiji was nowhere to be seen.

"Now, shall we list off the kids you killed? I think we shall." He cleared his throat. "Higashikata Masami and Jackal Kuwahara. Is that it? You best get a move on if any of you want to win."

Oishi stopped listening then. Only two people had died yesterday. Somehow, that lifted his spirits a little bit. Maybe there was hope for the majority to band together and figure out a way out of this place. As Kurobe continued talking about something, Oishi didn't care, Oishi stood up, and the realization that Eiji was missing hit him. Where had that rascal gone off to?

The photographs of each team that Eiji had been given as a weapon were strewn on the floor haphazardly. Eiji had etched into them with a rock he had picked up as the Golden Pair had travelled, scratching out the faces of the people who had died. It kept Eiji busy, Oishi supposed, but seeing them each morning was a grim reminder that this was real.

Walking to the door of the hut they had spent the night in, Oishi carefully peered out of it before opening it all the way. It was quiet out, especially now that Kurobe had stfu. He would have thought that it was rather nice out if it hadn't been for the whole murder island thing.

In the daylight, he could see where they'd stayed better. It obviously wasn't the main residential area of the island, but it seemed like it had been populated at some point. The village felt both safe and uncomfortable; it was nice to have some shelter and places to hide if need be, Oishi thought, but the houses were packed so tightly together that walking between them was claustrophobic. He was trying not to think about that when he heard a shout and then a crash from a nearby house. Eiji? EIJI? HAd EIJI…. TRIPPED?!

He began to run, his feet taking him in the direction of the sounds without a second thought. When he finally skidded into the house, he saw a sight that made him feel sick.

Eiji was alright. The other boy, in a Hyoutei sweater, was not.

"Eiji," Oishi said, "What happened?"

"I didn't mean it," Eiji whined, "He frightened me, and I shoved him, and…"

Oishi forced himself to look back to the Hyoutei member. It was Yuushi Oshitari, that blue haired poser that wore glasses even though he wasn't a true megane. He'd fallen back first against a cabinet, and the glass doors beneath him had shattered. Now he lay limp and motionless on top of it. Oishi swallowed, and stepped forward.

Eiji sounded fearful as he said, "Oishi, what are you going to do?"

"I think he's still breathing," Oishi muttered. Honestly, just looking at the scene made him feel sick - he couldn't see any wounds from where they were, but a puddle of blood had pooled behind Oshitari. The glass must have cut up his back really bad.

Oishi put his hand on Oshitari's shoulder, intending to lift him off the mess of glass shards, but the moment he did Oshitari groaned, and he withdrew his hand, clutching it to his chest. He could feel his heart beat faster below it.

"Oishi, we have to do something!"

He knew that. But there was nothing he could think of to do - Oshitari's wounds looked painful, more than they could hope to treat, but not fatal. Oishi steeled himself, then gripped Oshitari once more. He slipped his hands under his armpits and lifted him - he was heavy, and Oishi felt his palms become damp with blood. The white back of the Hyoutei jersey he wore was stained with blood. It made Oishi feel sick. He lowered Oshitari very carefully onto the bare, dusty floor, leaving a trail of blood from where he'd fallen to where he'd been lain.

He started to mutter something, and Oishi leaned in to listen, but he panicked when he saw blood trickle from the corner of his mouth and shushed him.

What should they do? Oishi looked back up to Eiji, and saw his doubles partner holding a pillow. For a moment he thought he was meaning to put it under Oshitari's head, but then he saw the grim look in Eiji's eyes, and he shook his head.

"No," he said, "No, Eiji-"

"There's nothing else we can do, Oishi," Eiji said. Oishi didn't usually hear Eiji speak so seriously, and the firm tone he spoke in made him freeze for a moment. Oishi wavered. Eiji continued, "He's probably in agony. We can't take him with us. It's cruel to leave him here, too."

Oishi's eyes flicked back down to Oshitari, who lay facing the ceiling, his eyes glassy. They didn't seem to be focused, but Oishi was willing to bet that he was still conscious - at the very least, he was still alive, his chest moving up and down as he took deep, gulping breaths, seemingly breathless. Had he punctured a lung?

Eiji was right. It was cruel to leave him here, and taking him with them was probably even crueler an option - there was no way his body could survive the stress of moving in this state. But the alternative to both of those was horrible to imagine.

"I'll do it," Eiji said. "You can go stand outside, Oishi."

The offer was tempting, but Oishi shook his head.

"No," he said, "I'll stay here."

He wondered how much of their conversation Oshitari was aware of. He didn't seem to react as Eiji took a deep breath, steeling himself, then lowered the pillow down over his face. For a moment, Oshitari was still, and then he seized up, his hand groping the air in front of him, moving to try and find Eiji's wrists and pull them off. Oishi caught one of his hands and held it, tightly. Oshitari's nails dug into the back of it, and then, finally, his grip loosened. He lay still.

Eiji lifted the pillow away and placed it on the floor beside him, his hands shaking. Oishi combed the hair that had been mussed out of Oshitari's face with his fingers, then set his glasses straight.

They decided they had to leave. They had to find the rest of Seigaku. Oishi wiped his hands on his shorts and they set off.

A while later, he asked Eiji about what had happened exactly. Eiji seemed restless. Finally he spun round to face Oishi, so suddenly that Oishi almost knocked him over, and said "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No!" Oishi gaped. Of course he wasn't. He just wanted to get the facts straight in his head. "I'm just- I just wanted to know that it was really an accident."

"Well it was," Eiji said. "So stop asking about it."

Oishi did. As they walked on he lifted his hand and looked at it, and saw that the grooves that Oshitari nail's had pressed into the back of his hands had yet to fade.

* * *

"UUUuuuuurggghhhhhhhh…."

Kite bit back a sigh and turned to look at Fukushi. They had been trying to make their way out of the forest since the announcement had woken them up that morning, but their progress was slow. Mostly because Fukushi's notorious stomache aches stopped him every few feet. He'd stop, clutch at his stomach, and groan. Sometimes he seemed like he was going to throw up, but he never did. Kite was thankful for that, at least.

He wondered if he should just dump this loser and get out of there. He didn't, though. Mostly because even though Fukushi wasn't exactly any great help, he wasn't exactly a hindrance, either. Maybe it was arrogance on Kite's part, but he thought that even with Fukushi holding him up, he could still take on anyone who came at him.

The first thing Kite had wanted to do was make their way to higher ground, a good vantage point where they could make good use of their ranged weapons. They were held up by Fukushi's stomach, though, and the plan was then changed to finding a pharmacy or a drug store to find something to calm his ragin' gastric tract.

There was a village marked on their map, which was a good bit away from where they'd started out. Kite assumed that people would head towards the landmarks highlighted on the map - not that there were many, on an island this small. There was the village - of course, there were a few villages scattered about, he'd found, but this was the village - which, the map helpfully pointed out, contained a grocery store. Kite's guess was that if it had a grocery store, it also had to have a pharmacy or a doctor's house or SOMETHING. Even on tiny islands like this, people still got sick.

Along the coast a little, there was a lighthouse. The map also labeled a suspiciously plain looking grid as DANGER, but did not elaborate on what exactly was dangerous about the spot. Another point of interest was the radio tower, which Kite thought was interesting. A way to contact the outside world, maybe? But no, they'd probably already destroyed anything within the tower that could be used for that. This wasn't the kind of thing they'd want the public to know about, after all.

"It really hurts," Fukushi whined.

"Just a little bit further," Kite called back. They'd done this three times already this morning.

It was almost noon when they arrived at the village, and Kite was glad to get some shade from the sun. If they did find a drug store, he'd be happy to get some sun block - his arms and the back of his neck were already burnt, and his pomp had wilted in the heat. Maybe he could get some more hair gel, too. Fukushi, still clutching Kite's jersey around his shoulders, was unaffected.

In the village, they found a drug store, which also doubled as a post office. Efficient! However, it was locked.

"Well, looks like we're not getting in here," Fukushi said, but he was cut off as Kite's boot hit the door with a loud thud. As he tried to ask "hey, what are you doing?", the sound of Kite's foot slamming against the door continued to drown him out. Finally, it splintered and fell off it's hinges, and Fukushi's mouth hung open in awe. So this was the power of Higa Chuu.

"That was so… manly!" Fukushi gasped. Kite looked away, and Fukushi thought he saw his face flush a little.

"Do you know what you're looking for?" Kite asked as they stepped in, and Fukushi nodded.

"Of course," he said. "It's over the counter stuff, so I don't need to go in the back…"

While he looked for his medicine, though, Kite did go into the back of the shop, where the rest of the drugs were stored. Mostly it was out of boredom, but when he got in there, he was glad he did. Most of the stock was arranged neatly, but there was a shelf which was missing most of it's contents. He was inspecting it when Fukushi came through, rubbin' his tum contentedly.

"What're you doing?" Fukushi asked.

"Something's missing from here."

"So?" Fukushi didn't see the big deal, and Kite cursed himself for agreeing to team up with such a DIMWIT. "We were the first people in here, right? Maybe the pharmacist just grabbed a bunch of a drug before he locked up the place."

Kite frowned. That was a point. But glancing around the room, he realised that was probably not the whole truth.

"That window's open," he said.

"Oh…" Fukushi hmmed, and looked at the open window. "Then, whoever took them would have to know something about drugs, right? To know what they were looking for? And they took a lot, so they must have had something in mind to use them for…"

Kite nodded, but he didn't know petty details like who was good at science or whatever when it came to his rival players. From the silence that followed, he guessed Fukushi didn't, either. But then he said, "Oh! Seigaku's data man is really into making like, weird concoctions and stuff! I drank one and it made me sick for days-" Kite gave him a look that seemed to say you're always sick, and Fukushi punched him lightly on the arm, and Kite wanted to punch him back because NOBODY punched Kite Eishirou, but he didn't. "It's true! I had to pull out of a tournament because of it." Fukushi said. "I bet if he wanted to kill someone with one of them, he could do that easily."

"Well, in that case, who'd be stupid enough to drink something like that in this situation?" Kite said. Fukushi shrugged.

"It was just an idea," he said.

Kite felt a little bad, the way Fukushi looked so dejected at having his theory shot down, but he didn't apologise. He did let Fukushi rest for a while, and then they ate some of the bars of chocolate the drug store had had for sale, and drank some of their water. They filled the bottles up at the store's taps and got ready to leave.

As they were walking to their next destination - a hill that Kite thought they could snipe some bitches at, no scope, 420 MLG pro gamer - they walked along the seafront. At the jetty that poked out into the calm sea, they could see a pair of peeps messing about with a boat. Kite crouched, and slipped his crossbow out of his pack. As it turned out, he hadn't needed to.

* * *

Kurobane Harukaze grunted as he pushed the small boat out into the water, his classmate, Amane Hikaru, A.K.A Dabide, lounging on it. Why he got to relax while Bane hauled the boat they'd found on the beach out to sea, he didn't know, but it didn't matter once he'd gotten it into the water. It was a small boat, and though it had a motor, Bane doubted it would go very fast. Still, it was a way out, a chance to escape from the island, and he had to take it.

At first, he'd wondered if they should look for more people who would like to escape with them. At the very least, Aoi and Saeki, and Itsuki. Now Aoi and Itsuki were dead, though, and Saeki was nowhere to be found. If they spent time looking for him, there was a chance that none of them would get out of this alive.

"Are we doing the right thing?" He asked, not for the first time, as the boat drifted away from shore. He reached to the engine and started it up. He knew how to because he is from The Beach, and so has a working knowledge of all boats. I can't tell you how it works because i am not, but just trust me, the boat works.

The engine was noisy but their little boat chugged along at a decent pace.

"There's nothing else we can do," Dabide said, "We said from the beginning we weren't gonna play their stupid game. But if we stay there, we're gonna get caught up in it no matter what."

"I guess you're right."

"Of course I'm right. And besides, maybe we'll make waves with our escape," Dabide said. Bane frowned. Was that a pun. "In fact, maybe they'll succumb to pier pressure and find boats for themselves." Okay, that was definitely a pun. Bane would have kicked him, if their boat wasn't in danger of capsizing just with them sitting still.

"I hate you," Bane groaned. He leaned back, looking off into the distance. And then something caught his eye. It must have just been the light catching on Dabide's collar, but… he looked back. It wasn't a trick of the light. There was definitely a red LED light, lit up in the center of Dabide's metal collar.

From the way that Dabide was looking at him, Bane guessed something was wrong with his, too. His hand moved to feel the cool, smooth metal that hugged his throat; maybe it was his imagination, but he thought he could feel movement beneath it, as though something inside it was beginning to tick.

He opened his mouth, maybe to scream or to curse or to just complain because they'd been so sure they were in the clear, but he didn't manage any sound. Their collars exploded almost in unison, and while Kite and Fukushi were the only ones who saw it, the sound could probably be heard for miles around.

**33 students remaining.**


End file.
